System and method for enabling extensibility in sensing systems

ABSTRACT

One embodiment of the present invention provides a method and apparatus for enabling extensibility in sensing systems. The distributed sensing system comprises a number of sensor nodes, a device database, a sensing module registry, a sensing needs monitor, and an automatic composer. The device database is in communication with at least one sensor node and configured to maintain physical information on at least one sensor node. The sensing module registry is configured to maintain a registry of a number of software modules that are available for extracting information from sensor data. The sensing needs monitor is configured to maintain a list of context pairs that represent a number of sensing needs of a sensing application. The automatic composer is configured to generate a composition of software modules, at runtime, to realize the sensing needs of users and applications.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to techniques for enabling extensibilityin sensing systems. More specifically, the present invention relates toa technique for generating and deploying a composition of softwaremodules onto a sensing system to realize a sensing application.

2. Related Art

Intelligent sensing systems promise to provide superior services byincreasing accuracy and adding context to computational decisions.However, today's systems are costly to design, difficult to extend, andare unnecessarily expensive. The problem is the rigidity and lack ofextensibility of today's sensor systems. Sensors are typically deployedand engineered for a single purpose with little regard for other futureuses of the same data. This often results in multiple sensing systemsoccupying the same space, but completely unable to share sensor nodes ordata.

Adding functionality into existing systems that were never designed tobe extended can be a complicated and costly task where deploying aseparate system with its own set of sensor nodes is often the simpler,more reliable, and economical choice. This results in the shortsighted“reinvent versus reuse” design methodology—multiple, isolated sensingsystems that cannot be adapted or extended in a robust and reliable way.

SUMMARY

One embodiment of the present invention provides a distributed sensingsystem. The distributed sensing system includes a number of sensornodes, a device database, a sensing module registry, a sensing needsmonitor, and an automatic composer. The device database is incommunication with at least one sensor node and configured to maintainphysical information on at least one sensor node. The sensing moduleregistry is configured to maintain a registry of a number of softwaremodules that are available for extracting information from sensor data.The sensing needs monitor is configured to maintain a list of contextpairs that represent a number of sensing needs of a sensing application.The automatic composer is configured to generate a composition ofsoftware modules, at runtime, to realize the sensing needs of users andapplications. Furthermore, the automatic composer is coupled to thedevice database, the sensing module registry, the sensing needs monitor,and the number of sensor nodes.

In a variation on this embodiment, a respective sensor node includes oneor more sensing devices to detect one or more of: a sound signal, motionsignal, vibration signal, altitude signal, luminous intensity signal,proximity signal, pressure signal, temperature signal, radiation signal,timing signal, humidity signal, electromagnetic field intensity signal,altitude signal, weight signal, airborne particulates signal, velocitysignal, direction signal, and distance signal.

In a variation on this embodiment, the automatic composer is furtherconfigured to report when an existing sensor node configuration does notprovide sufficient sensor coverage for realizing the sensingrequirements of users and applications.

In a variation on this embodiment, a respective context pair representssensing information as a name-location pair of the form:

-   -   <name, location>.        The “name” field indicates a type of data or information on        which the sensing information is based, and the “location” field        indicates a point or region on which the sensing information is        based.

In a variation on this embodiment, a respective context pair representssensing information as a name-spatiotemporal pair of the form:

-   -   <name, location/time>.        The “name” field indicates a type of data or information on        which the sensing information is based. Furthermore, the        “location/time” field indicates a point or region, and a time,        on which the sensing information is based.

In a variation on this embodiment, the sensing needs monitor isconfigured to interface with a graphical user interface (GUI), and theGUI is configured to allow users to insert and delete context pairs.

In a variation on this embodiment, the physical information maintainedby the device database describes sensor-specific calibrationinformation, which includes lens distortion coefficients, orientation ofcameras, and/or location of sensor nodes.

In a variation on this embodiment, the automatic composer is furtherconfigured to generate a composition of software modules, at runtime, torealize the sensing needs of users and applications. The automaticcomposer generates a composition by determining the necessary softwaremodules and sensor nodes for achieving the sensing needs, and by alsodetermining the necessary number of a respective type of softwaremodule, the configurations, and on which sensor nodes to instantiate thesoftware modules. Once the automatic composer generates a composition,it configures the sensor nodes to execute the composition.

In a variation on this embodiment, when a sensor node failure isdetected, the automatic composer is configured to generate a newcomposition of software modules, at runtime, using only the availablesensor nodes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 presents an exemplary architecture for a computing environmentwhich includes a sensor system in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 presents a diagram illustrating the operation of an automaticcomposition service in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 presents a diagram illustrating a distributed sensing system inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 presents a diagram illustrating an operation flow for howsoftware modules may be extended for multiple applications in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 presents a diagram depicting a sensing need and the coverageprovided by a composition of a group of sensors in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 presents a graphical user interface for a sensing needs monitorin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 presents a graphical user interface for a composition viewer inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 presents a flow chart illustrating a process for appending asensor node into a sensing system in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 9 presents a flow chart illustrating a process for introducing anew software module into a sensing system in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 presents a flow chart illustrating a process for a sensingsystem recovering from a sensor node that goes offline in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 presents a flow chart illustrating a process for configuring asensor node in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 presents a flow chart illustrating a process for generating acomposition in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary computing device that facilitates adistributed sensing system in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled inthe art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context ofa particular application and its requirements. Various modifications tothe disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied toother embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is notlimited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the claims.

The data structures and code described in this detailed description aretypically stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which may be anydevice or medium that can store code and/or data for use by a computersystem. This includes, but is not limited to, volatile memory,non-volatile memory, magnetic and optical storage devices such as diskdrives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs), DVDs (digital versatilediscs or digital video discs), or other media capable of storingcomputer readable media now known or later developed.

Introduction

An integrated, extensible system has several advantages. With theability to extend the functionality of sensor nodes, redundantdeployment of sensor nodes can be avoided. This means that the upfrontcost of hardware deployment and software development can be amortizedover multiple applications over the lifetime of the system. Theavailability of more sensor nodes configured with a variety of sensingdevices can increase performance through sensor node diversity. Withsuch diversity, sensing becomes more accurate and delivers betterperformance.

Designing extensible systems involves maintaining a simplifiedinfrastructure of sensor nodes while increasing the systemfunctionality. In practice, maintaining simplicity is a challenging taskdue to the gradual loss of system expertise over time as developersleave, move on to other projects, or forget fundamental details.

This disclosure describes a design framework that leverages the key roleof physical location in sensing to simplify construction of extensiblesystems by use of an automatic composition service that automaticallyintegrates and reconfigures software components on devices as the systemevolves. This system provides extensibility to the sensing aspects ofapplications.

When multiple developers independently develop their respective sensingapplications, it is often difficult to reuse sensing devices andfunctionalities across multiple applications. A respective sensingapplication is built from scratch with little consideration of how itcould be reused by other applications. The disparate sensing networkscoexist but are inaccessible to one another. From a development costperspective, it is more cost effective to reuse existing applicationsand extend functionality whenever possible.

Sensor System

FIG. 1 presents a sensing system 100 in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention. Sensing system 100 includes a number of computersystems, which can generally include any type of computer system basedon a microprocessor, a mainframe computer, a digital signal processor, aportable computing device, a personal organizer, a device controller, ora computational engine within an appliance. More specifically, referringto FIG. 1, sensing system 100 includes network 102, computing device106, sensing module registry 104, device database 108, sensor nodes110-112, sensing devices 114-122, laptop 124, desktop system 126, anddevices 128.

Network 102 can include any type of wired or wireless communicationchannel capable of coupling together computer nodes. This includes, butis not limited to, a local area network, a wide area network, or acombination of networks. In one embodiment of the present invention,network 102 includes the Internet. In some embodiments of the presentinvention, network 102 includes phone and cellular phone networks.

Sensing devices 114-122 can include cameras, microphones, motiondetectors, ultra-wideband (UWB) sensors, infrared sensors,magnetometers, thermometers, barometers, weight scales, and other typesof sensors that detect sound, motion, vibration, luminosity, magneticfield intensity, proximity, pressure, temperature, radiation, timing,humidity, altitude, weight, airborne particulates, velocity, direction,and other properties and/or combinations of properties.

Sensor node 110 or 112 can include a memory (e.g., a predeterminedamount of RAM) for storing information and a mechanism for executingsoftware modules. A software module is a software unit that accepts datainput from a sensing device and/or from a number of software modules,and performs computations on this input to produce a specific output. Inone embodiment of the present invention, a software module produces dataas an output. In another embodiment of the present invention, a softwaremodule produces a notification to a user as an output.

Sensing system 100 senses (e.g., detects, estimates, tracks, and/ormonitors) phenomena using the signals observed by sensor nodes in thesystem. For example, sensor system 100 can sense the locations andactivities of a person or object (e.g., tracking an elderly person anddetermining his/her location and movements) or detect the occurrence ofan event (e.g., a fire in the kitchen).

Sensing module registry 104 is configured to maintain a registry of anumber of software modules that are available for extracting informationfrom sensor data. Device database 108 is in communication with at leastone sensor node, and is configured to maintain physical information onat least one sensor node. Computing device 106 can be configured toinclude a sensing needs monitor 204 and an automatic composer 202, whichare described in conjunction with FIG. 2.

In one embodiment of the present invention, computing device 106includes sensing module registry 104 and/or device database 108. In analternate embodiment of the present invention, computing device 106 iscoupled to sensing module registry 104 and/or device database 108.

Laptop 124 and desktop system 126 can generally include any node on anetwork including computational capability and including a mechanism forcommunicating across the network.

Devices 128 can be any type of electronic device that can couple to aclient, such as desktop system 126, or a network, such as network 102,to interface with computing device 106. Such devices include, but arenot limited to, cell phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs),smart-phones, or any other device that can be used to interact withsensing system 100.

Users 130-134 can include an individual, a group of individuals, anorganization, a group of organizations, a computing system, a group ofcomputing systems, or any other entity that can interact with sensingsystem 100.

Note that different embodiments of the present invention may usedifferent configurations, and are not limited to the configurationillustrated in sensing system 100. In some embodiments of the presentinvention, the system is implemented as an application executing as aweb-service on computing device 106, while in other embodiments of thepresent invention, the system is implemented as an application executingon laptop 124, desktop system 126, or devices 128. Also, note that users130-134 may access the system via various devices, such as via computingdevice 106, laptop 124, desktop system 126, or devices 128.

Automatic Composition Service

FIG. 2 presents a diagram illustrating the operations of an automaticcomposition service 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. Automatic composition service 200 includes four modules: anautomatic composer 202, a sensing needs monitor 204, a sensing moduleregistry 210, and a device database 208. Automatic composer 202 producesa composition 206, which is a detailed plan that implements a sensingapplication by deploying a set of software modules onto a set of sensornodes. Composition 206 includes a set of software modules to beinstantiated, the identities of a set of sensor nodes on which arespective software module is to be instantiated, and a set ofinterfaces to be established between the instantiated software modules.

Sensing needs monitor 204, sensing module registry 210, and devicedatabase 208 maintain information about the sensing needs of theapplication, the available sensing software modules, and the state ofphysical deployment of sensor nodes on the network respectively.Automatic composer 202 uses this state information to command theprocessing and communications tasks that should be occurring in thenetworked sensing system by performing three tasks. First, it acts as abroker that determines the software modules and sensor nodes that arerequired to fulfill the sensing needs. Second, it acts as an architectto determine how many of a respective software module is required, howthey should be configured to interface with other software modules, andon which sensor nodes to instantiate them. Finally, it dispatches thisplan in the form of composition 206 to command the devices to executeit.

Sensing Needs Monitor

Sensing needs monitor 204 maintains a list of name-location pairs thatrepresent the current sensing needs of an application. A GUI interfaceswith this subservice so that users can directly insert and delete thesensing information they intend the system to gather. Also, applicationscan programmatically insert and delete name-location pairs with thissubservice. In one embodiment, the information stored in this subserviceis denoted

A={A_(i)}_(i=1) ^(L)

where L is the number of name-location pairs and A_(i) is the i^(th)name-location pair.

Two functions are defined, name(A) and location(A), which return thename and location respectively of a name-location pair A.

Sensing Module Registry

Sensing module registry 210 maintains a registry of all software modulesthat are available for extracting information from sensor data. Sensingmodule registry 210 stores the actual code and meta data such as thedescription of valid inputs and outputs of a respective software module.When a new software module is to be added to the system, it is added tosensing module registry 210. In one embodiment, the information storedin this subservice is denoted

F={F _(i)(x)}_(i=1) ^(M)

where M is the number of software modules, and where F_(i)(x) is thei^(th) software module. The expression for F also illustrates theexplicit dependence of a respective sensing module on a location regionx.

To enable automatic composition, several functions are defined by thedeveloper to provide meta data associated with software module F.

-   -   n=outputName(F)—This function returns the name n of the output        of software module F. A software module may only output one        name.    -   (n_(i),x_(i))_(i=1) ^(K)=inputPairs(F, x_(out))—This function        returns a set of name-location pairs that correspond to the        required inputs for software module F to output in region        x_(out).    -   {{tilde over (x)}_(i)}_(i=1) ^(K), {tilde over        (x)}_(out)=filterInputLocations(F, x_(out), (n_(i), x_(i))_(i=1)        ^(K))—This function is used by automatic composer 202 for        performing the automatic composition task. With K inputs that        have the name n_(i) and location x_(i), this function will        return K location regions {{tilde over (x)}_(i)}_(i=1) ^(K)        which correspond to the input requirements of software module F        and the actual output location {tilde over (x)}_(out) that can        be computed with the inputs {{tilde over (x)}_(i)}_(i=1) ^(K).

The lowest level software modules are those that directly interface witha sensing device and deliver its raw data. For example, a CameraImagersoftware module directly interfaces with a camera's USB driver toextract images, and outputs images named CameraImage. A sensor drivermodule is a special case, which is supported by two more functions.

-   -   is Driver(F)—This function returns true when software module F        is a sensor driver.    -   inputDeviceType(F)—This function indicates the type of sensing        device software module F can interface with and is only        applicable when software module F is a sensor driver. For        example, this can indicate USB webcams.

A respective software module is designed to be general over any locationregion x so it is able to compute its output over any non-deterministicset of input name-location pairs. Furthermore, a respective softwaremodule has functions defined for it that specify its personal meta data.These design characteristics enable extensibility, as well asadaptability and robustness, in a sensing system.

Device Database

Device database 208 maintains information about all devices that areassociated with the sensing system and their physical location. Othersensor-specific calibration information, like lens distortion and viewangle in cameras, are also maintained in this subservice. Let usrepresent the information stored in this subservice as

D={D_(i)}_(i=1) ^(N)

where N is the number of sensing devices and D_(i) is the i^(th) sensingdevice.

-   -   deviceType(D)—This function returns the type of the sensing        device.    -   coverageLocation(D)—This function returns the sensor coverage        location. For example, a sensor node may include a        ceiling-mounted camera that points downward so that the coverage        location for the sensing device is a rectangular region on a 2-D        plane, which corresponds to the field of view on the floor of        the room. Other extensions to more general orientations in three        dimensions will require alternate representations.

Depending on the type of sensing device, there can be a set of functionsthat extract calibration information about the sensing device. Suchcalibration parameters include but are not limited to lens distortioncoefficients, location, and camera orientation.

Automatic Composer

Automatic composer 202 is the core of automatic composition service 200that takes as input the state information from sensing needs monitor204, sensing module registry 210, and from device database 208, andgenerates composition 206 of software modules using the raw data fromthe sensing devices to satisfy the sensing needs. An example outcome ofcomposition 206 is illustrated in FIG. 7. Composition 206 is afeed-forward directed, location-specified graph G=(V, E, loc), where arespective graph node vεV represents an instance of a software moduleand e=(v₁, v₂)εE represents the configured interface of the output ofv_(i) to the input of v₂. The function loc(v) of a respective graph nodevεV represents the location region that is assigned to v. The purpose ofthe ComposeModulesFor(A) algorithm of automatic composer 202 is toconstruct the graph G and specify loc(v) for all graph nodes v such thatfor a given name-location pair A_(i) in sensing needs monitor 204, thereexists a vεV that outputs sensing information with name name(A_(i)) inthe location region location(A_(i)) using only the currently deployedsensing devices {D_(i)}_(i=1) ^(N) as known in device database 208 andthe currently available software modules {F_(i)}_(i=1) ^(M). Thecoverage provided by the sensing devices may not be sufficient tosatisfy all of the needs, so it is important for the algorithm toindicate where such coverage is lacking.

Algorithm for Composition

The following pseudo-code illustrates the algorithm ComposeModulesFor(A)for generating composition 206. The main function ComposeModulesFor(A)instantiates nodes to satisfy sensing needs A. The main function addsnodes to the current partially constructed composition G and returns theset of nodes V_(direct) that directly contribute to satisfying A.

ComposeModulesFor(A)

-   -   1. Compute region R_(remain) that is not being output by the        current partial composition G.        -   a. Search for existing nodes in G that output name(A).            -   i. V_(exist):={vεG|name(v)=name(A)}        -   b. Compute location region already covered by current            composition.            -   i. R_(exist):=∪_(vεV) _(exist) loc(v)        -   c. Compute the remaining region.            -   i. R_(remain):=location(A)−R_(exist)    -   2. If R_(remain) is empty, then exit routine and return the        empty set, V_(direct):=Ø.    -   3. Set V_(added) to empty set. This variable holds which nodes        have been newly added.    -   4. Find the set of sensing modules F_(A)⊂F in the Sensing Module        Registry that can output name(A).        -   a. F_(A)={FεF|outputName(F)=name(A)}    -   5. For each FεF_(A),        -   a. If is Driver(F) is true, then            -   i. Find which devices can be driven by F.                -   1. D_(F):={DεD: inputDeviceType(F)=deviceType(D)}            -   ii. If a similar node does not already exist in G,                create a new node w for each device in DεD_(F) with                sensing module set to F and set                loc(w):=coverageLocation(D)            -   iii. If loc(w) intersects R_(remain), then                -   1. Add w to G and V_(added).                -   2. R_(remain):=R_(remain)−location(w)        -   b. Else            -   i. Pull out the set of input name-location pairs for                module F.                -   1. I_(F):=inputPairs(F, R_(remain))            -   ii. For each input pair IεI_(F),                -   1. V_(I):=ComposeModulesFor(I).                -    (V_(I) is the set of nodes in the current                    composition that directly satisfy I.)            -   iii. Construct the realized input pairs for F.                -   1. P_(F):={(name(v), loc(v))|vε{V_(I)}_(IεI) _(F) }            -   iv. Compute the input locations needed for                F(R_(remain)).                -   1. X_(F), R_(out):=filterInputLocations (F,                    R_(remain), P_(F))            -   v. If R_(out) is not empty,                -   1. Create a new node w with sensing module set to F                    and loc(w):=R_(out), and add w to the current                    composition G.                -   2. Add node w to the set V_(added).                -   3. For all nodes vε{V_(I)}_(IεI) _(F) for which the                    corresponding xεX_(F) is not empty, add a directed                    edge (v, w), into G.                -   4. Update R_(remain):=R_(remain)−R_(out)    -   6. If R_(remain) is not empty, repeat Step 5. If R_(remain)        remains unchanged and still non-empty, then this indicates that        there is not enough sensor coverage to satisfy sensing        information with name name(A) in location region location(A).        Exit routine and return V_(direct):=V_(added)∪V_(exist).    -   7. If R_(remain) is empty, then exit routine and return        V_(direct):=V_(added)∪V_(exist).

The idea for the ComposeModulesFor(A) algorithm is to begin with thedesired outputs, and build the composition G backwards down to thesensing devices. At every step in the composition process, the algorithmmaintains a partial composition G=(V, E, loc). For a respective graphnode vεV, the following functions are defined.

-   -   sensingModule(v)—This function returns the software module F        that is associated with node v in composition G.    -   name(v)—This function returns the output name of the software        module associated with this node.    -   loc(v)—This function returns the chosen location parameter for        the software module associated with v.        During composition construction, the algorithm for composition        in ComposeModulesFor(A) instantiates new software modules,        chooses the location parameter, and configures the input sources        and output destinations of these modules.

The resulting composition G can contain nodes that do not contribute tosatisfying the sensing needs A, so there is a phase to deleteunnecessary nodes. Furthermore, for a networked system, the final stepis to determine on which sensor nodes the software modules of thecomposition should be installed. Rules can be employed, such asinstalling as much functionality into the sensor nodes as possible, orperforming various load balancing and distributed process migrationtechniques, which determine good placement of software modules ontodistributed sensor nodes under a variety of cost criteria.

The filterInputLocations function is used to select a smaller set ofavailable inputs to compute the output. Depending on the choice of thisfunction, it is possible for automatic composer 202 to instantiatemultiple copies of the same software module, where the individual copiesoperate on separate input regions if the developer designed thisfunction to only choose a single input. In contrast, a choice that usesall of the inputs enforces that only a single copy of a software moduleis instantiated. The computation of R_(remain) in step 5.b.v.4 of thealgorithm for composition ComposeModulesFor(A) ensures that severalpasses are allowed so that a software module can be instantiatedmultiple times.

The composition algorithm presented above provides a great deal ofdesign flexibility, such as choosing the order of node instantiation andchoosing which nodes to include in composition 206. These considerationscan have a large effect on the performance characteristics of theresulting composition 206. For example, a trade off between efficiencyand robustness can be achieved by choosing a composition algorithm thatranges from computing minimal compositions to compositions withredundant nodes.

Sample Networked Sensing System

FIG. 3 illustrates a distributed sensing system 300 in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention. Distributed sensing system 300includes two sensor networks: sensor network 302 and sensor network 304.Distributed sensing system 300 also includes sensor nodes 306 withinsensor networks 302-304, and includes software modules 308 executingwithin sensor nodes 306. This architecture includes automaticcomposition over physical locations, and is a two-tiered system with anumber of automatic composer nodes 310 and a number of sensor nodes 306.This separation between automatic composer nodes 310 and sensor nodes306 allows for sensor nodes 306 to be mote-like devices rather thanfull-fledged computers.

An automatic composer node 310 acts as a central manager for a subset ofsensor nodes 306, and directs which software modules 308 areinstantiated on a respective sensor node 306 and which messages areexchanged among the sensor nodes 306 as determined by a composition.Sensing information required by applications is sent directly from thesensor node 306 that computes the result to the application, which againis specified by automatic composer 310. Automatic composer 310 will alsoreceive messages to maintain the state stored by the sensing needsmonitor, the sensing module registry, and the device database. In oneembodiment, automatic composer 310 may require relatively highprocessing power to compute compositions 206 at runtime, and reliablelinks to sensor nodes 306.

Sensor nodes 306 are the workhorses that have processing capability andhave one or more sensing devices associated with them. These nodes haveruntime software built into them, which supports the instantiation ofsoftware modules 308 and the exchange of messages as directed by theautomatic composition service. The runtime software can also have otherservices built in to detect devices and their relevant calibration andlocation information so that this information can be sent to theautomatic composition service.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a distributed implementationis accomplished by partitioning the sensor nodes 306 into severalsubsets and having a composer node manage the partitions separately.This distributed implementation is scalable, but may introduce anoverlap of sensor coverage and an overlap in sensing needs betweenneighboring composer nodes that these composer nodes need to resolve.

A Retail Store Example

FIG. 4 presents a diagram illustrating an operation of how softwaremodules may be extended for multiple applications in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the sensingsystem is designed to be extensible, and applicable to multiplesimultaneous sensing applications.

An exemplary use for this application is for a security surveillancesystem and an in-store market research system. These two applicationshave functionality in common, and they can benefit from a greaterdensity of sensing devices. A potentially more cost-effectivealternative to developing multiple simultaneous sensing systemsseparately is to design the systems so that existing functionality couldbe easily reused and extended beyond the initially intended use of theapplication. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the retail store isfirst deployed with a security surveillance system that captures videofrom cameras (Camera Imager 400). Then, a security application developer(left column) develops a software module with video analyticcapabilities such as People Detector 402, to detect the presence ofpeople in the scene, and Tracker 404, to track people over time. Storemanagers may also wish to leverage this system to extract customer countinformation throughout a store to help dispatch salespeople accordingly.A different developer, responsible for developing an in-store marketingapplication (right column), could reuse People Detector 402functionality originally designed for the security application andextend it into a software module that provides customer counts in agiven area (People Counter 406). Furthermore, People Counter 406 modulecan also be extended for security applications to monitor people inrestricted areas. Finally, an Alarm Based On Density 408 functionalitycan be developed by the security developer to initiate an alarm underpre-determined conditions.

A further example of common functionality is that both applicationsextract people's behavior. A security guard may be interested inbehaviors such as a customer picking up an item. After detecting thisbehavior, the security guard may monitor this customer to make sure thatthe customer is not shoplifting. A sales manager may also be interestedin detecting customers picking up an item to dispatch a sales agent, andmay perform marketing research by detecting whether customers gaze atcertain items, since this information indicates the customer's interestas it relates to targeted advertising and correlates with sales. Underthis example, if the Item Pick Detector 410 component is designed withpossible future reuse in mind, then both applications can benefit.Furthermore, new functionality such as Gaze Detector 412 and ShopliftingDetector 414 can be developed in parallel by security and marketresearch application programmers respectively without having to deploy anew sensor node infrastructure.

Naming Data

Allowing multiple applications to reuse functionality provided by otherapplications requires a sensing system to employ a common way ofreferring to data. The physical location and timing information ofsensor data is the fundamental context information used by anapplication to interpret and extract high-level information of anobserved phenomenon. This allows a naming system to be employed whereall data and extracted information is referenced by name. For example,software modules in a video surveillance tracking system extractinformation such as “images,” “people locations,” and “motiontrajectories.” In one embodiment of the present invention, tagging arespective event identifier with spatiotemporal context informationprovides a simple way to specify interests in sensing information,namely, name-spatiotemporal context pairs.

-   -   <name, location/time>

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, a phenomenon ofinterest is represented by name-location pairs, with time beingimplicitly specified to be the present.

-   -   <name, location>

For a given name-location pair, the name indicates the type of data orinformation, and the location indicates the point or region on which theinformation is based. For example,

-   -   <PersonCount, Palo Alto>        represents that a sensing information is about the number of        people in Palo Alto.

Sample Composition

FIG. 5 presents a diagram depicting a sensing need and the coverageprovided by a composition of a group of sensors in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5A illustrates four cameras,A-D, that are attempting to respond to a sensing need. The sensing needis shown as a dashed rectangle. A partial composition is illustrated inFIG. 5B, which presents the portions of a respective camera'sfield-of-view as is included in the composition. FIG. 5C illustrates aregion in the lower right of FIG. 4A that cannot be covered with thecurrent configuration of sensor nodes.

FIG. 6 presents a graphical user interface (GUI) 600 for a sensing needsmonitor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. GUI600 includes two window panes, such that a first window pane presents alist of software modules 604 that can be incorporated into a compositionby a user. A respective software module 604 of the first window pane hasan associated display pattern indicator 608 and check box 602, such thatenabling the associated check box 602 and pressing the sensing needsselection button 606 effectively incorporates the selected softwaremodule 604 into the composition 206.

A second window pane of GUI 600 includes a map surface image of thesensed area, a map navigation tool 610, a map rotation tool 612, a mapzoom tool 614, a sensing needs selection 616, and an uncovered areaindicator 618. The map navigation tool shifts the map image in a givendirection as a means to effectively scroll, or navigate, across a mapsurface. The map rotation tool rotates the map image in a givendirection as a means to effectively orient the image in a givendirection. The map zoom tool enlarges or diminishes the map surfaceimage as a means to effectively zoom into, or zoom out of, a mapsurface.

Sensing needs selection 616 illustrates a surface area that has beenselected to employ a given type and number of software modules 604. Thetype of software module 604 that a given sensing needs selection 616employs is indicated by the border or the shading of sensing needsselection 616, and corresponds to a display pattern indicator 608 of thefirst window pane. A sensing needs selection 616 that is successfullyinstantiated due to a proper deployment of sensor nodes is indicated bya dark shaded region. The uncovered area indicator corresponds to theregions of a sensing needs selection 616 that cannot be successfullyinstantiated due to an under-deployment of sensor nodes, and isindicated by an unshaded region.

FIG. 7 presents a graphical user interface for composition viewer 700 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Compositionviewer 700 includes map navigation tool 710, map rotation tool 712, andmap zoom tool 714, and further includes a visual display for a directedgraph of software modules 708.

The leaf (bottom) boxes of the directed graph indicate software modules708 that are sensor driver modules; in this case, they are Camera Imagersoftware modules. The root (top) boxes indicate software modules 708that directly output information corresponding to one of the sensingneeds stored in the sensing needs monitor. The internal boxes thatinterface with other boxes for inputs and outputs are other softwaremodules 708 that compute intermediate results.

FIG. 8 presents a flow chart illustrating a process for appending asensor node to a sensing system in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. To start, the user configures a respective sensornode (operation 800). Next, the user installs sensor node at a physicallocation (operation 802). In operation 804, the user stores the sensornode location and calibration information in a device database.

Once the device database has updated sensor node information, anautomatic composer generates an updated composition to take advantage ofthe new sensing and processing capabilities (operation 806). The sensingsystem continues in normal operation as sensor nodes monitor the inputfrom their associated sensing devices and execute the information insoftware modules. When a sensing need of a user is satisfied, thesensing system alerts the user (operation 808).

FIG. 9 presents a flow chart illustrating a process for defining a newsoftware module for a sensing system in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. To start, the user defines a new software module(operation 900). Next, the user stores the new software module in thesensing module registry (operation 902).

Once the sensing module registry has updated the software moduleinformation, an automatic composer generates an updated composition totake advantage of the functionality (operation 906). The sensing systemcontinues in normal operation as the sensor nodes monitor the input fromtheir associated sensing devices and execute the information in thesoftware modules. When a sensing need of a user is satisfied, thesensing system alerts the user (operation 908).

FIG. 10 presents a flow chart illustrating a process for a sensingsystem recovering from a sensor node that goes offline in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention. When a sensor node goesoffline (operation 1000), either intentionally for maintenance purposesor unintentionally due to a malfunctioning sensor node or amalfunctioning sensing device, the sensor system detects the missingsensor node (operation 1002).

Once the device database has updated state information on the deployedsensor nodes which accounts for the missing sensor node, the automaticcomposer generates an updated composition to use the available sensornodes and sensing devices (operation 1006). The sensing system continuesin normal operation as sensor nodes monitor the input from theirassociated sensing devices and execute the information in the softwaremodules. When a sensing need of a user is satisfied, the sensing systemalerts the user (operation 1008).

FIG. 11 presents a flow chart illustrating a process for configuring asensor node in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention(operation 1100). The user first installs one or more sensing devices ona sensor node, (operation 1102). Then, the user installs runtimesoftware into the sensor node which can instantiate sensing devices andexchange messages as directed by a composition (operation 1104).

FIG. 12 presents a flow chart illustrating a process for generating acomposition in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention(operation 1200). To begin, an automatic composer determines thesoftware modules and sensor nodes that satisfy the sensing needs(operation 1202). Next, the automatic composer determines the number ofa respective software module to instantiate, the configurations, andwhich sensor nodes to instantiate on (operation 1204). The automaticcomposer generates a composition by incorporating the information itdefines in operation 1204, and configures the sensor nodes to executethe composition (operation 1206).

The automatic composer determines if the user's sensing needs are met inoperation 1208. If the user's sensing needs are not being met by thecurrent composition, the automatic composition service notifies the userof the physical regions which are not covered by the current deploymentof sensor nodes (operation 1210). In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the automatic composition service notifies the user of thelack of coverage by displaying the uncovered physical regions in a GUIas light-colored regions (corresponding to uncovered area indicator618).

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary computing device 1300 that facilitatesa distributed sensing system in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. Computing device 1300 can generally include any typeof computer system based on a microprocessor, a mainframe computer, adigital signal processor, a portable computing device, a personalorganizer, a device controller, or a computational engine within anappliance. More specifically, referring to FIG. 13, computing device1300 includes one or more processors 1310, a memory system 1312, and astorage device 1314. Furthermore, computing device 1300 is configured tointerface with display 1302, and a number of sensing devices 1304, 1306,and 1308.

Sensing devices 1304-1308 can include cameras, microphones, motiondetectors, ultra-wideband (UWB) sensors, infrared sensors,magnetometers, thermometers, barometers, weight scales, and other typesof sensors that detect sound, motion, vibration, luminosity, magneticfield intensity, proximity, pressure, temperature, radiation, timing,humidity, altitude, weight, airborne particulates, velocity, direction,and other properties and/or combinations of properties.

Storage device 1314 can include an operating system 1316, a devicedatabase 1318, sensing module registry 1320, a sensing needs monitor1322, and an automatic composer 1324.

During operation, automatic composer 1324 is loaded into memory 1312 andexecuted by processor 1310. Automatic composer 1324 then performs thefunctions described in conjunction with FIG. 2.

Deploying and Extending a Networked Sensing System

The following scenarios describe two applications of the extensiblesensor system: a simple security application, and a personalizedadvertisement application. The security application detects and tracksthe movement of people over time, locally stores video feeds tagged withtrack information, and sends alarms when restricted areas are violated.The personalized advertisement application detects a shopper's profileby reading a radio frequency identification (RFID) card as the shopperenters the store, then tracks the shopper using the cameras. When theshopper approaches a display, the display shows an advertisementrelevant to his interests. These scenarios demonstrate the simplicity ofextending a sensor system to accommodate the sensing needs of a secondapplication.

Scenario A—Initial Deployment

A security team plans to set up a camera sensing system within a retailstore to record video, and to automatically detect and track customersas they move through the store. A total of 15 nodes are installed with aruntime software environment that could instantiate software modules andexchange messages as directed by a composition. Sensor node location andcalibration information are measured manually and stored in a devicedatabase.

Software development involves decomposing the required sensing tasksinto composable modules, generalized over location, and specifying thenames of the inputs and outputs. The security team develops aCameraImager sensor driver module that interfaces with a ceiling cameraand outputs CameraImage data. The team also develops a PersonDetectormodule to input CameraImage data and produce PersonDetectioninformation. Finally, a Tracker module is developed to producePersonTrack information given the PersonDetection information.

The automatic composer needs additional metadata about the softwaremodules, which require defining the outputName, inputPairs,filterInputLocations, is Driver, and inputDeviceType functions. Thesefunctions are implemented to provide meta data on a respective softwaremodule, and the software modules are implemented to be general over anylocation region, which provides the automatic composition service withthe information that enables it to work.

Once the sensing network infrastructure is established, the next stepentails specifying, in the sensing needs monitor, the information thatis to be extracted. This involves specifying <name, location> pairs,which are implemented in a GUI as shown in FIG. 6. The different bordersand shadings represent different names, and the rectangular regionsrepresent the corresponding location.

Scenario B—Modifying where to Sense

The security team determines that they need to monitor a different areaof the retail store. Because the software modules are developed to begeneral over location, changing the regions to be sensed only involveschanging the name-location pairs in the sensing needs monitor. As aresult, the automatic composer generates a new composition automaticallywith no additional user effort.

If the automatic composer determines that insufficient sensor coverageis available, a GUI, such as GUI 600 in FIG. 6, indicates where sensorcoverage is lacking. For example, FIG. 6 illustrates areas ofinsufficient sensor coverage in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. The lighter areas of the rectangular regions indicateareas of insufficient sensor coverage. This information providesvisibility into the sensing system to enable a user to understand thecapabilities and limitations of the sensing system.

Scenario C—Addition of New Sensing Devices

To compensate for the lack of sensor coverage, the security team decidesto add new sensing devices.

The security team installs the runtime software into a collection of newsensor nodes, they calibrate the sensor nodes, and mount the sensornodes to the desired locations and with the desired orientations. Thiscalibration and configuration information is inserted into a devicedatabase. Then, an automatic composer re-computes a new composition totake advantage of the new sensing and processing capabilities. With thesensor nodes installed and mounted to achieve the desired coverage, thelight areas of the rectangular regions in the GUI illustrated in FIG. 6turn dark. The sensing system automatically utilizes the capabilities ofthe sensor nodes once the relevant information about the new sensingdevices is provided to the automatic composition service.

Scenario D—Extension of Sensing Outcomes

The retail store wishes to use the cameras installed in the store formarket research purposes. The current capabilities of the sensing systemcan be leveraged, but they wish to add new functionality, such ascounting the number of people in specific areas.

The store owner develops new software to incorporate this peoplecounting capability into the sensing system. To understand the types ofinformation currently supported by the system, the store owner lists thesupported output names. The store owner then chooses to implement asingle module, entitled PersonCounter, which inputs “PersonDetection”and outputs “PersonCount.” Note that the store owner does not have toknow that a “PersonDetection” is computed from a “CameraImage” in thesystem, which is a benefit of naming. A further advantage of naming isthat future upgrades, additions, or replacements of downstream modulescan be configured to use or feed the PersonCounter module. For example,person detections could be computed by microphone arrays with softwareto detect and localize speech. As long as the microphone-based detectionmodule outputs “PersonDetection,” the PersonCounter module can use thatinformation to extract “PersonCount” information.

As before, the PersonCounter is implemented to be general over anylocation region and is programmed with the meta-data that is necessaryfor automatic composition to work. Inserting software modules into asensing module registry, such as the PersonCounter module, does notrequire the sensing system to be taken offline. This is important forapplications where it is highly desirable that the sensing system isrunning continuously, such as security.

The final step is to add name-location pairs into the sensing needsmonitor to have the sensing system output “PersonCount” information.This causes a recomposition to occur, and the sensing systemreconfigures itself accordingly.

Scenario E—Robustness to Node Failures

When a node failure is detected, automatic composition enables gracefuldegradation by triggering a re-composition using only the availabledevices; if sufficient redundant coverage exists, full functionality isrestored without requiring any user action.

Requirements for Extensible Sensing Systems

To enable extensibility in sensing systems, two perspectives areconsidered: that of an original developer and that of a developer(extender) who intends to reuse or extend existing functionalities. Notethat oftentimes the developers of the initial system are not the same asextenders. The following paragraphs outline the requirements thatfacilitate the effort of an original developer and an extender.

Initial Developer's Perspective

For functionality on a sensing system to be reused or extended, thefunctionality is designed using the following guidelines: (1)functionality is designed into fine-grained modules that can be invokedindependently; and (2) functionality is made general enough to bereusable. However, from the developer's point of view, designing forextensibility is relatively low priority. Although extensibility isconsidered a good feature, the first and foremost priority is toimplement the intended functionality of the system. If the extra effortto generalize algorithms and package them into modules incurssignificant additional complications to the design, simplicity wins outin the short term even though the extensible design could mean a bettersystem over its lifetime. Hence, simplicity requirements are taken intoaccount, and are listed below.

Requirement 1a: Packaging functionality into modular, independentlyinvokable units should require minimum extra effort.Requirement 1b: Developing generalized algorithms should require minimumextra effort.

The retail store example implicitly describes a component-basedarchitecture where a respective software module is a black box withspecified inputs, outputs, and control parameters. The PeopleDetectorfunctionality accepts images as input, and its parameters include thespecification of the area where people need to be detected. It outputs aset of people descriptors (contour, bounding box, mask pixels, etc.).

Extender's Perspective

Simplifying an extender's job of reusing and extending the existingsoftware modules also requires the adoption of new developmentpractices, which are listed below.

Requirement 2a: Discovering what software modules exist and what theirinput/output/parameters are should be as easy as possible.Requirement 2b: The use of existing software modules should not requirespecialized expertise.Requirement 2c: Integrating software modules should be as simple aswiring to match inputs and outputs.Requirement 2d: Updating existing software modules with new versions andadding new modules should be fully supported.

In the retail store scenario, for an in-store market researchapplication developer to extend a module, it should be easy for him todetermine which software modules are available in the overall system.The distinction of whether a software module is developed by thesecurity developer or market research developer is unimportant. Thediscovery of which software modules are available should be nearlyeffortless for the developer (Requirement 2a). Secondly, the developersfor the two applications may have different domain expertise. Forinstance, developers developing the security applications may becomputer vision specialists, while developers developing the marketingapplication may be sales experts. It is important that the relevantknowledge of how to use sensing devices, sensing algorithms, theircapabilities, and their limitations are all packaged so that non-expertscan use the outputs of these algorithms correctly (Requirement 2b).

Requirement 2c corresponds to integration. Consider PeopleDetection andPeopleCounter components as examples. Although they are developed fordifferent applications, integration should be effortless. ThePeopleDetection component takes images as input and outputs peopledescriptors in a specified region, while PeopleCounter takes peopledescriptor as input and outputs total counts of customers in a region.This simple example demonstrates that the two components can beintegrated by matching the outputs of a first software module with theinputs of a second software module. In practice, with large numbers ofsoftware modules and data types, interfacing these software modules canbecome a massively complicated manual task. Therefore, a well-definedset of matching rules allows integration to be automated, which is thepurpose of the automatic composition service.

A valuable side-benefit of an extensible system is that itsfunctionality can be modified over time; therefore, it is critical thatincremental updates are fully supported without breaking upstreamfunctionalities (Requirement 2d).

Meeting the Requirements

The role of a developer that extends the functionality of an existingsensing system is simplified as follows. First, the developer isprovided with the available functionalities of the existing systemthrough a list of names that indicate the type of information theexisting sensing system can detect. Second, this information can beextracted from any location region by specifying a name-location pair,as long as there is sufficient sensor coverage in the region ofinterest. And third, the present invention comprises an automaticcomposition service with the capability to report insufficient sensorcoverage.

The role of an initial developer is simplified as follows. The presentinvention uses a component-based development framework that ensures allfunctionality is packaged into independently executable software modulesthat can be linked with one another. Second, the development frameworkrequires all software modules to be developed in a manner that isgeneralizable over location. This is important because the physicallocation of sensor nodes is critical context information forinterpreting sensor data, and it is not until an actual deployment ofthe system that device locations are established. For example, whendeveloping an image processing routine that outputs the detections ofpeople, a software module should be able to extract the detections ofpeople within any given physical region.

Finally, the role of both an initial developer and that of an extenderis simplified as follows. Integration of functionality is handledautomatically by the automatic composition service. Knowledge of thenames of inputs and outputs of the software modules and knowledge of thetype and location of the deployed sensor nodes enables the automaticcomposer to automatically instantiate, set location parameters, andinterface the software modules with one another so as to realize thesensing needs of users and applications.

The automatic composer provides an abstraction for the possibleconfigurations of software modules. With automated integrationcapability, the perceived complexity of sensing system scales linearlywith the number of software modules, rather than exponentially with thenumber of possible configurations of software modules. Thus, automaticcomposition is the key capability that maintains simplicity in thedesign methodology for extensible systems.

Impact to Extensibility

Requirement 1a—The implicit dependencies of a software module should behidden as much as possible to facilitate a future developer to reuse thefunctionality. Since the dependencies are best known by an originaldeveloper of the software module, the original developer can providecontext meta data about inputs and outputs of a software module. Thismeta-data can then be used by the automatic composition service tointegrate this functionality into the sensing system. The originaldeveloper is essentially packaging the software module into a form whichcaptures all of this module's dependencies via names. The effect ofnaming is to decouple the software modules from one another so that adeveloper never has to know exactly which software module provides thedesired named data, only that the system can provide it. Thecomplications in tracking hidden dependencies are avoided by automatingintegration with the automatic composition service.

Requirement 1b—Sensing algorithms should be developed to be general overlocation regions. This puts extra effort on the developer; however, thegains of the extra effort include being flexible over variations in thelocations of sensor node deployments and allowing developers of futuresoftware modules to build on existing functionality over any location.

Requirement 2a—To learn what the current sensing capabilities of anexisting system are, the developer only needs to know what names areknown by the sensing system and what the semantics are. Other detailslike the data representation of the information will also be needed toreuse this information programmatically in a new software module.

Requirement 2b—To use an existing sensing capability, the developerexpresses an interest for sensing information by entering aname-location pair into the sensing needs monitor. The simplicity ofthis specification, on the one hand, limits how the software modules canbe interfaced, but on the other hand, a future developer does not needto have any specialized expertise to use the software modules.

Requirement 2c—Integrating a new software module requires specifying theinput-output meta data and registering the software module with anautomatic composition service. Instantiation of multiple copies of thesoftware modules over distributed devices and configuring the interfaceswith interdependent modules are performed automatically by the automaticcomposition service. This means that developers do not have to write andintegrate new functionality into an existing sensing system.Furthermore, developers do not have to worry about inadvertentlybreaking the interfaces between the software modules because theautomatic composition service automatically generates a re-compositionof software modules that meets all the sensing needs of the applicationwith the inclusion of the new software module.

Requirement 2d—Updating existing functionality is accomplished byreplacing a software module that outputs a particular name with a newversion that outputs the same name in the sensing needs monitor.Integration of the new version is performed automatically by theautomatic composition service.

Benefits of Online Re-Composition

In one embodiment, the automatic composition service is developed torespond to state changes within the sensing needs monitor, the sensingmodule registry, and the device database. By re-computing a newcomposition during online operation, the sensing system exhibitsadditional benefits beyond extensibility without requiring any moreeffort by developers.

Adaptability—Adaptability refers to the ability of a sensing system 100to adjust its processes in response to changes in needs by the user orapplication. This corresponds to re-computing a new composition inresponse to state changes in the sensing needs monitor.

Extensibility—The functionality of a sensing system can be extendedwithout downtime since a real-time re-composition can be performed inresponse to state changes in the sensing module registry.

Robustness—A sensing system is robust to sensor node failures. If thedevice database is able to detect a sensor node or sensing devicefailure, a re-composition is performed to satisfy the sensing needs tothe extent possible with the remaining sensor nodes and sensing devices.

The foregoing descriptions of embodiments of the present invention havebeen presented only for purposes of illustration and description. Theyare not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention tothe forms disclosed. Accordingly, many modifications and variations willbe apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Additionally, the abovedisclosure is not intended to limit the present invention. The scope ofthe present invention is defined by the appended claims.

1. A distributed sensing system, comprising: a number of sensor nodes; adevice database in communication with at least one sensor node andconfigured to maintain physical information on at least one sensor node;a sensing module registry configured to maintain a registry of a numberof software modules that are available for extracting information fromsensor data; a sensing needs monitor configured to maintain a list ofcontext pairs that represent a number of sensing needs of a sensingapplication; and an automatic composer configured to generate acomposition of software modules, at runtime, to realize the sensingneeds of users and applications, wherein the automatic composer iscoupled to the device database, the sensing module registry, the sensingneeds monitor, and the number of sensor nodes.
 2. The distributedsensing system of claim 1, wherein a respective sensor node comprisesone or more sensing devices to detect one or more of: a sound signal,motion signal, vibration signal, altitude signal, luminous intensitysignal, proximity signal, pressure signal, temperature signal, radiationsignal, timing signal, humidity signal, electromagnetic field intensitysignal, altitude signal, weight signal, airborne particulates signal,velocity signal, direction signal, and distance signal.
 3. Thedistributed sensing system of claim 1, wherein the automatic composer isfurther configured to report when an existing sensor node configurationdoes not provide sufficient sensor coverage for realizing the sensingrequirements of users and applications.
 4. The distributed sensingsystem of claim 1, wherein a respective context pair represents sensinginformation as a name-location pair of the form:<name, location>; wherein the “name” field indicates a type of data orinformation on which the sensing information is based; and wherein the“location” field indicates a point or region on which the sensinginformation is based.
 5. The distributed sensing system of claim 1,wherein a respective context pair represents sensing information as aname-spatiotemporal pair of the form:<name, location/time>; wherein the “name” field indicates a type of dataor information on which the sensing information is based; and whereinthe “location/time” field indicates a point or region, and a time, onwhich the sensing information is based.
 6. The distributed sensingsystem of claim 1, wherein the sensing needs monitor is configured tointerface with a graphical user interface (GUI); and wherein the GUI isconfigured to allow users to insert and delete context pairs.
 7. Thedistributed sensing system of claim 1, wherein the physical informationmaintained by the device database describes sensor-specific calibrationinformation, which includes lens distortion coefficients, orientation ofcameras, and/or location of sensor nodes.
 8. The distributed sensingsystem of claim 1, wherein the automatic composer is further configuredto generate a composition of software modules, at runtime, to realizethe sensing needs of users and applications by: determining thenecessary software modules and sensor nodes for achieving the sensingneeds; determining the necessary number of a respective type of softwaremodule, the configurations, and on which sensor nodes to instantiate thesoftware modules; and configuring the sensor nodes to execute thecomposition.
 9. The distributed sensing system of claim 1, wherein whena sensor node failure is detected, the automatic composer is configuredto generate a new composition of software modules, at runtime, usingonly the available sensor nodes.
 10. A sensor node, comprising: asensing device configured to generate a sensor measurement; and acomputation unit configured to sample a sensor measurement from thesensing device, and execute one or more computation functions; wherein arespective computation function takes as input one or more of sensormeasurements and phenomena states, and generates a phenomenon state asoutput; and wherein the sensor node is configured to accept a respectivesensor node configuration at runtime, wherein the respective sensor nodeconfiguration comprises: interconnection details which specify inputparameters and one or more sensor nodes as a destination to the outputphenomenon; and one or more computation functions which can be executedby the computation unit.
 11. The sensor node of claim 10, wherein thesensor node is configured to forward the output phenomenon to one ormore sensor nodes or computing devices.
 12. The sensor node of claim 11,wherein a sensor measurement describes one or more of: a sound signal,motion signal, vibration signal, altitude signal, luminous intensitysignal, proximity signal, pressure signal, temperature signal, radiationsignal, timing signal, humidity signal, electromagnetic field intensitysignal, altitude signal, weight signal, airborne particulates signal,velocity signal, direction signal, and distance signal.
 13. A method forenabling extensibility in a sensing system, the method comprising:maintaining physical information, within a device database, on at leastone sensor node, wherein the physical information describessensor-specific calibration information; maintaining a registry, withina sensing module registry, of a number of software modules that areavailable for extracting information from sensor data; maintaining alist of context pairs within a sensing needs monitor, wherein a contextpair represents a sensing need of a sensing application; and generatinga composition of software modules, at an automatic composer duringruntime, to realize the sensing needs of users and applications.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising detecting at a sensor node one ormore of: a sound signal, motion signal, vibration signal, altitudesignal, luminous intensity signal, proximity signal, pressure signal,temperature signal, radiation signal, timing signal, humidity signal,electromagnetic field intensity signal, altitude signal, weight signal,airborne particulates signal, velocity signal, direction signal, anddistance signal.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprisingreporting, at the automatic composer, when an existing sensor nodeconfiguration does not provide sufficient sensor coverage for realizingthe sensing requirements of users and applications.
 16. The method ofclaim 13, wherein a respective context pair represents sensinginformation as a name-location pair of the form:<name, location>; wherein the “name” field indicates a type of data orinformation on which the sensing information is based; and wherein the“location” field indicates a point or region on which the sensinginformation is based.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein a respectivecontext pair represents sensing information as a name-spatiotemporalpair of the form:<name, location/time>; wherein the “name” field indicates a type of dataor information on which the sensing information is based; and whereinthe “location/time” field indicates a point or region, and a time, onwhich the sensing information is based.
 18. The method of claim 13,further comprising interfacing between the sensing needs monitor and agraphical user interface (GUI); and wherein the GUI is configured toallow users to insert and delete context pairs.
 19. The method of claim13, wherein generating the composition of software modules comprises:determining the necessary software modules and sensor nodes forachieving the sensing needs; determining the necessary number of arespective type of software module, the configurations, and on whichsensor nodes to instantiate the software modules; and configuring thesensor nodes to execute the composition.
 20. The method of claim 13,wherein when a sensor node failure is detected, the method furthercomprises generating a new composition of software modules, at runtime,using only the available sensor nodes.
 21. The method of claim 13,wherein the physical information includes lens distortion coefficients,orientation of cameras, and/or location of sensor node.